Dapolito Center remains shut over structure issues
BY DEAN MOSES
The Tony Dapolito Recreation Center
has been closed after an ongoing
construction project found cause for
concern, the Parks Department announced.
Mayor Bill de Blasio green lit a $9.9
million project, located at 1 Clarkson St.,
to renovate the popular recreation center
which began in the fall of last year. The
premises still remained open to members
during the process, which looked to reconstruct
and stabilize various sections of the
building.
However, the doors were shut on July 16
and will remain locked for the foreseeable
future due to “structural issues” that were
discovered during the construction project.
Since then, amNewYork Metro learned
that the over-century old building was suffering
from structural deterioration, which
ultimately led to the Parks Department
deciding to close the center to the public
due to safety concerns.
“While we never wish to close our recreation
centers, we have found potential
structural issues that necessitate we close
Tony Dapolito until further notice. We
understand how important this center
is for the community, and we’re focused
on conducting further assessments and
The NYC Parks Department announced the closure of Tony Dapolito
Recreation Center due to structural concerns.
determining next steps,” NYC Parks
spokesperson Megan Moriarty told am-
NewYork Metro through a statement.
Built in 1908, the site was a hub for
New Yorkers of all ages to exercise, play
basketball, swim, and participate in various
recreational activities while providing
a free youth membership for teens 18 and
under, and discounted memberships of
seniors and IDNYC holders.
Featuring both an indoor and outdoor
pool, the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
also served as an ideal location for members
to cool off.
With the doors once again shuttered
and the pools drained, some feel the iconic
Greenwich Village center’s future is in a
precarious position as members await further
news on construction. However, not
all locals are aware of the closure.
Lauren Meyer and her daughter looked
to beat the summer heat on July 20 by taking
a dip in the center’s pool, but instead
she found locked doors.
“I had gone onto the Parks website and I
was looking at a few public pools and I just
wanted to check out this one, but when I
turned up it was closed,” Meyer said.
After learning that the closure was due
to structural integrity issues, Meyer shared
that she was happy that the Parks Department
closed the site until it could address
the safety issues but also admitted she is a
bit disappointed.
“It’s disappointing to not have access to
this pool this summer, but if it needs to
close down then I understand,” Meyer said.
While the Parks Department promises to
keep New Yorkers updated with further information
coming in the next several weeks,
they ask that in the meantime members use
other facilities in the area such as Alfred E.
Smith Recreation Center and Constance
Baker Motley Recreation Center, although
these locations still operate under limited
hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The original construction was tentatively
scheduled to be completed in March of
2022, yet it is currently unknown how
much time, if at all, the necessary structural
assessments will delay the project or when
the center will once again permit visitors,
still the Parks Department noted that their
decision to close the building was out of “an
abundance of caution.”
Cops seek suspect in fatal East Village stabbing
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Detectives have identifi ed a
person of interest connected
to a deadly stabbing in the
East Village last week.
The NYPD released an image of the
unidentifi ed individual they want to
talk to regarding the July 14 murder of
Marvin Bellamy, 37, at the corner of
1st Avenue and East 6th Street.
Offi cers from the 9th Precinct
found Bellamy, a resident of Columbus
Avenue on the Upper West Side, with a
puncture wound to his chest at about 6
a.m. last Wednesday morning.
EMS rushed Bellamy to Mount
Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead a short time
later. Police classifi ed his death as
a homicide following an autopsy
that the Medical Examiner’s offi ce
conducted.
A week into the ongoing investigation,
police did not disclose a possible
motive for the stabbing, or the circumstances
leading up to the deadly attack.
Police sources also did not known
of any possible connection between
Bellamy and the person of interest,
The person of interest wanted in connection with a deadly stabbing in
the East Village on July 14, 2021.
whose image was captured by a
nearby security camera on the day of
the incident. As shown in the image,
the individual wore a black sweatshirt
with an image on the front, black pants
PHOTO COURTESY OF NYPD
and black-and-white sneakers.
Anyone with information regarding
his whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers
at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish,
dial 888-57-PISTA).
LES lot once
used by Banksy
on market
for $2.49 million
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
A vacant lot on Ludlow Street on the Lower
East Side made famous by the artist Banksy
is on the market for $2.49 million.
The site, 159 Ludlow Street, fi rst became famous
eight years ago when the English street artist and
political activist used it as a location for his “residency
on the streets of New York” called Better Out Than
In. The month-long exhibition featured 31 pieces of
graffi ti-art with Banksy revealing a piece a day.
The lot made headlines again in 2019 when it
became the site of a public art project that involved
live streaming video of earth from a NASA satellite.
B6 Real Estate Advisors has been retained as the
sales team for the lot which has 25 feet of frontage on
Ludlow Street, has a total of 4,271 buildable square
footage and has legal parking space for up to six cars.
The surrounding neighborhood has seen a spike
in development with 1,500 units of new residences
and 600 new hotel rooms.
Scchnepss Mediia Jully 22,, 2021 3